I just read Susil’s post about the cold and commented that tomorrow in these parts, the low is going to be 29 degrees. I grew up in Chicago, city of subzero temperatures but that was a long time ago and after several years in a subtropical climate (except for this @#$%^%$ week), I have lost my resistance to the cold.

I was also reminded of my tothood when Mom would take me shopping with her. I must have been under 5, because my sis was in school and I was not. She would dress me in several layers, the end result was that I looked like a bowling ball when she was done and could hardly walk.

We would go to Greektown, known as Halsted Street, 8 blocks west of the Loop and visit the many Greek shops. They all had specialties – meat, dairy and cheeses, bakery, fish. It was a long afternoon. It was a long, frigid afternoon and I was always happy to get home. I don’t know how Mom did it. After all, she grew up in a warm climate. Bundled as I was, I still got cold.

Later my dad’s three brothers (all bachelors) would join us for Sunday dinner, usually roast lamb.

My Uncle George had a girlfriend, Lida, not Greek, but she was fun to be around and my mom liked her and sis and I learned a lot from Lida because Mom confided in her. A great deal of the conversation was about food and who had the best olives, oil, lamb's heads, bread, etc. It's no wonder that Greeks go into the restaurant business. My dad came from a huge family. Many of his siblings died while very young. But he also had some brothers left in Greece, and the only time I traveled there, I met my first cousins, who remarked on the family resemblance. That was a nice day.

That was a lifetime ago in every sense. Chicago was a huge city, but it consisted of small towns.

xx, Teal